This Instant Pot Pineapple Brown Sugar Ham is the easiest way to cook the ham for your holiday dinner. It’s juicy, delicious and the pineapple brown sugar glaze is irresistible! No more dry ham that cooks in the oven for hours. The Instant Pot pressure cooker can not only cook a turkey but also a ham, saving the oven space and lots of time for you! Cooking the ham in an oven takes about 1.5 hours, while the IP takes about 38 minutes, including the appliance coming to pressure and the natural pressure release.

Since the ham is cooked already, all we need to do is to heat it up, just like you would do in the oven. The Instant Pot makes it easier and faster! Free up the oven for other dishes or desserts.

Ingredients (your shopping list):

whole ham

brown sugar

pineapple bits with juice

cornstarch

Instructions:

Start by mixing brown sugar, pineapple tidbits with juice and ground cloves in a medium bowl.

Add water to Instant Pot insert, place trivet inside. Set the ham, cut side down, on the trivet. Pour pineapple brown sugar mixture over ham. Close lid, press “manual” or “pressure cook” setting and set the timer to 15 minutes. The IP will take about 13 minutes to come to pressure.

Once done, let the Instant Pot release the pressure naturally. It will take about 10 minutes (it was 9.5 minutes for me). Carefully open the lid and remove ham onto a cutting board.

Make the pineapple brown sugar mixture into a glaze by thickening with a cornstarch slurry. Cornstarch will make the glaze clear. If you will use flour, it will be cloudy.

Slice ham and serve with glaze.

I used a 6 lbs semi-boneless ham. That means it only has the thigh bone in. I used my 6 quart IP DUO to cook it. You may have to trim the ham to make it fit.

Cooking time:

I used a 6lb semi-boneless ham and cooked it for 15 minutes. The IP took exactly 13 minutes to come to pressure and once the timer was done, it took 9.5 minutes to release the pressure naturally. If your ham is spiral cut, bone-in, and 6 to 8 lbs, the time remains the same. It may just take longer to come to pressure. You may have to trim your ham to fit in the Instant Pot.

If you are using ham that has not been cut yet, it will separate in few spots around the bone. It will not fall apart at all. It will make it easier for you to slice it away from the bone, before slicing for serving. Keep the bone, if you like, to make a soup later.

The glaze:

The mixture of brown sugar and pineapple tidbits with juice makes for a perfect flavor combo with ham. After the ham is done, remove it from the Instant Pot and place on a cutting board to rest. Make a cornstarch and water slurry, set the IP to saute setting and bring the pineapple mixture to a boil. Add cornstarch slurry and cook until thickened. Turn of the Instant Pot, let the glaze cool before serving over ham slices.

If you are broiling the ham, you can pour a few tablespoons of the glaze over ham before placing in the oven. Watch it closely so it won’t burn.

Sides to serve with ham:

Freezing leftover ham:

First, decide what you will use the leftover ham for. If it’s soups and casseroles, dice the leftover ham. Place in freezer bags and squeeze as much air as possible, or use a vacuum seal. It will prevent ice crystals from forming on the meat. Leftover ham can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days, and for up to 2 months in the freezer.

If you want to turn the leftover ham into an easy Instant Pot breakfast, check out my new recipe for the Instant Pot Breakfast Egg Casserole! It’s so easy and loaded with deliciousness!

Add 1 cup of water to Instant Pot insert, place trivet inside. Set the ham, cut side down, on the trivet. Pour pineapple brown sugar mixture over ham.

Close lid, press “manual” or “pressure cook” setting and set the timer to 15 minutes. The IP will take about 13 minutes to come to pressure.

Once done, let the Instant Pot release the pressure naturally. It will take about 10 minutes (it was 9.5 minutes for me). Carefully open the lid and remove ham onto a cutting board. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Make the pineapple brown sugar mixture: whisk cornstarch and water in small bowl. Press "saute" setting on your Instant Pot, bring it to a boil. Add cornstarch mixture and cook for about 2 minutes, or until it thickens. Cornstarch makes the glaze clear. If you will use flour, it will be cloudy.

Slice ham and serve with glaze.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

The amount of sodium comes from the ham itself, not the ingredients used in this recipe. The amount of salt used in the curing process accounts for the high number. Check the label before purchasing ham, if you are on a low-sodium diet.

I used 6.4 lbs semi-boneless ham. It was not precut. The semi-boneless ham has the leg bone but the shank bone is removed which makes carving easier. You can use spiral-cut bone-in ham. Just make sure to trim it to fit in your Instant Pot.

You can broil the ham for 3 to 4 minutes if desired. Place ham on a baking sheet, pour 3 to 5 tablespoons of the pineapple brown sugar glaze over and place under broiler. Watch it closely so it won't burn.

Reader Interactions

Comments

So I’m a little new to cooking and it’s my first Easter being in charge 😳. How much brown sugar, pineapple tidbits, cornstarch, and water (for the cornstarch slurry) is needed? TIA! My husband is super excited to try it!

Any thoughts on pre-slicing and layering the glaze/ham inside the stackable pots. (Pot in pot cooking method)? Wasn’t sure if it would be easier when it came to serving and getting the glaze flavor throughout.

I tried this with a semi-boneless and it was wonderful. We bought a spiral ham to try next. A couple of questions: Should we change the cooking time where it’s been cut to avoid it drying out? Also, the spiral ham came with its own glaze packet. Thoughts on using that in addition to the pineapple glaze? Thanks!

Semi-newbie with my IP. This looks great, and easy! I shop online for groceries where I go for curbside pickup (HEB in Texas.) I can’t seem to find an uncooked ham when online shopping at the grocery store. What exactly should I be looking for? Thanks!

Hi Tiffany! The timer won’t start until your Instant Pot has come to pressure. So the first 10 to 13 minutes it will just show ON and once the pressure pin is up, it will start the timer and it will cook for 15 minutes. I hope that makes sense. Let me know how it goes!

Hi! I made this tonight and it was so delicious and tender! My husband and even both my kids (extremely picky) loved it!! It seriously made my night that our whole family enjoyed a meal that I made. Its really a hassle to come up with meals that both my kids will eat. This is Added to my list. Thank you so much

Absolutely yummy!! My first ham in the Instapot. The glaze was amazing!! My husband who likes ham with no sauce went back for seconds. We cooked the 8 lb ham for 15 minutes, would not cook it any longer. In fact next time we will go for 12 minutes to make sure it does not dry out.

I put my ham in for the same time and it was about a lb smaller, it came out a little cold. So next time i would put it in longer. The glaze however is really good. And the saute button really makes it a nice thick glaze ive never been able to do before.